2025 Regular Season Thread Vol. 9

[Kobewade11]

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Again, why is the Dragon not on the coaching staff? Or a front office position?

I said before he'd make a great coach but his aspirations are to join the FO in some capacity. It's only a matter of time and designing what he wants his role to be within the organization, wouldn't be surprised if it happens this summer.

[Voltron914]

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Again, why is the Dragon not on the coaching staff? Or a front office position?

I said before he'd make a great coach but his aspirations are to join the FO in some capacity. It's only a matter of time and designing what he wants his role to be within the organization, wouldn't be surprised if it happens this summer.

i think they already announced that he was joining the Org next season in some capacity. Niko is one of those players i would like the team to keep around and carve out a role for him. I hope he gets more playing time game 3 and that Herro takes Garland's jab personally. Bam should go off too when he see Mobley get that DPOY award and tear him up

[jbsays]

There was a thread on Reddit a while ago that proposed Bam’s slow reaction time was due to him playing high on weed.

I can't even imagine him doing something so stupid. Did that reddit user provide some images or videos of it? Or just yap?

If I recall correctly, the poster said that he himself played high and that Bam played how poster played while high.

LOL... such BS.
Some guy on reddit plays like a guy who is going to get paid $173 mil in the future to play basketball? Did he also show everyone his two Olympic gold medals?

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[3ammy3uck3ts]

I can't even imagine him doing something so stupid. Did that reddit user provide some images or videos of it? Or just yap?

If I recall correctly, the poster said that he himself played high and that Bam played how poster played while high.

LOL... such BS.
Some guy on reddit plays like a guy who is going to get paid $173 mil in the future to play basketball? Did he also show everyone his two Olympic gold medals?

They always seem to conveniently forget that for his age and under he’s one of the more decorated players in the league with nearly the most postseason success as well lol

[unowen85]

If I recall correctly, the poster said that he himself played high and that Bam played how poster played while high.

LOL... such BS.
Some guy on reddit plays like a guy who is going to get paid $173 mil in the future to play basketball? Did he also show everyone his two Olympic gold medals?

They always seem to conveniently forget that for his age and under he’s one of the more decorated players in the league with nearly the most postseason success as well lol

He’s posted some stuff on social media that indicated he might smoke week, but quite frankly, if he needs it to stay relaxed then more power to him. He definitely has some anxiety issues, so if there’s something he can use to calm himself down and hit clutch shots then he should be doing that.

[DayofMourning]

LOL... such BS.
Some guy on reddit plays like a guy who is going to get paid $173 mil in the future to play basketball? Did he also show everyone his two Olympic gold medals?

They always seem to conveniently forget that for his age and under he’s one of the more decorated players in the league with nearly the most postseason success as well lol

He’s posted some stuff on social media that indicated he might smoke week, but quite frankly, if he needs it to stay relaxed then more power to him. He definitely has some anxiety issues, so if there’s something he can use to calm himself down and hit clutch shots then he should be doing that.

Exactly.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

LOL... such BS.
Some guy on reddit plays like a guy who is going to get paid $173 mil in the future to play basketball? Did he also show everyone his two Olympic gold medals?

They always seem to conveniently forget that for his age and under he’s one of the more decorated players in the league with nearly the most postseason success as well lol

He’s posted some stuff on social media that indicated he might smoke week, but quite frankly, if he needs it to stay relaxed then more power to him. He definitely has some anxiety issues, so if there’s something he can use to calm himself down and hit clutch shots then he should be doing that.

Maybe that was his key to being a top player in the clutch this year and a dominant OT force

[twix2500]

Quick look at how the Cavs are defending the Heat. They are giving up the corner three that Mobley is defending. Mobley is cheating off his man betting the Heat will not beat them shooting the corner. This is why I called it early that Jovic needed to play and be ready for the open three. And this is why Bam cant hesitate and shoot that corner three with confindence and hit it.

Spoiler:

You can see this is what Spo told the team to look out for. It was open Jovic just needed to hit it. You see Mobley is still cheating off his man. However, the defense had fell apart but someone on the Heat wasnt aware of their surroundings. This is should have been an easy dunk and maybe an and one. Let me know if you see it.

Here is more look at how the Cavs are defending and why they are defending they way they are. The playoffs are about finding mismatches. The Cavs want to keep Mobley and Allen in the paint to defend the rim. As you can see in this screen shot the Cavs are selling out to defend the paint. The Heat are trying to expose Garland which is a smart move. Wiggins is the best postup player on this team. However, passing out of the post when the paint is clogged has been very inconsistent for Wiggins. The Cavs are daring Ware, Bam and Mitchell to hurt them from from three. Sadly the players do not have great confindence in Bam and Ware to take those threes because they are really hesistant to pass it out quickly to them at the three point line

The Heat try to counter the Cavs drop bigs, by trying to force them to move laterally and away from the paint. The Cavs are pressing fullcourt, not because they are trying to get the ball out of Herro hands. Its because the Heat lack ball handlers and the Heat have well designed halfcourt plays which is the Alley Hoop plays for Ware and Bam. The Alley Hoop plays pulls Mobley or Allen out of the paint and forces them to play laterally instead of vertically. Its the reason the Heat went up so fast in the first. However, these plays are very time consuming to run. The Cavs quickly decided to press to force the Heat to use more of the 24 sec shot clock so the Heat can not run their motion sets to free up Bam and Ware for Alleys. Look how well this play is run but it uses up a lot of time.

[twix2500]

Bad back Duncan really hurting the Heat halfcourt offense. Good back Duncan would be able to make the Cavs defense move laterally.

The only other player who can play the four and move the defense is Jovic. The question is Jovic bad hand better than Duncan bad back.

[twix2500]

The corner three is very important vs the Cavs because how they defend, especially from the 4 spot who Mobley or Allen has to defend.

Corner Three %
Nikola Jovic 47.5%
Haywood Highsmith 44.6%
Duncan Robinson 43 .4%
Alec Burks 40.7%

vs the Cavs the Heat are shooting 33% from the corner.

[twix2500]

Ouch how Ware left Bam hands hanging for the wide open corner three

[3ammy3uck3ts]

The corner three is very important vs the Cavs because how they defend, especially from the 4 spot who Mobley or Allen has to defend.

Corner Three %
Nikola Jovic 47.5%
Haywood Highsmith 44.6%
Duncan Robinson 43 .4%
Alec Burks 40.7%

vs the Cavs the Heat are shooting 33% from the corner.

Bam - 45.5%
Herro - 45.7%

[twix2500]

The corner three is very important vs the Cavs because how they defend, especially from the 4 spot who Mobley or Allen has to defend.

Corner Three %
Nikola Jovic 47.5%
Haywood Highsmith 44.6%
Duncan Robinson 43 .4%
Alec Burks 40.7%

vs the Cavs the Heat are shooting 33% from the corner.

Bam - 45.5%
Herro - 45.7%

The importance of the corner three is to open up the paint for Herro, Bam and Wiggins. Wiggins and Herro are not primarily in the corner so its irrelavant what their % are. In Bam case he is in the corner often when paired with Ware, but as you can see the team is hesistant to give it to him. Bam is open a lot in the corner almost always but the teammates do not swing it to him and a lot of times when it does swing to him he doesnt take and and dribbles it up for a handoff or swings it back up. However, you want the paint to open up for the bigs, Herro and Wiggins. During one of the times out the mic caught Cavs coach saying keep defending the paint because the Heat wants to score in the paint. You want the defense to start defending the corners closely, once that happens the Heat can attack the paint and get to the line.

In this Cavs series Herro has taken 1 corner three. He is 1 for 1.
In this Cavs series Bam has is 1 for 5 from the corner.
Highsmith 3 for 3 100%
Robinson has taken 0 shots
Burks 0 for 1

[3ammy3uck3ts]

The corner three is very important vs the Cavs because how they defend, especially from the 4 spot who Mobley or Allen has to defend.

Corner Three %
Nikola Jovic 47.5%
Haywood Highsmith 44.6%
Duncan Robinson 43 .4%
Alec Burks 40.7%

vs the Cavs the Heat are shooting 33% from the corner.

Bam - 45.5%
Herro - 45.7%

The importance of the corner three is to open up the paint for Herro, Bam and Wiggins. Wiggins and Herro are not primarily in the corner so its irrelavant what their % are. In Bam case he is in the corner often when paired with Ware, but as you can see the team is hesistant to give it to him. Bam is open a lot in the corner almost always but the teammates do not swing it to him and a lot of times when it does swing to him he doesnt take and and dribbles it up for a handoff or swings it back up. However, you want the paint to open up for the bigs, Herro and Wiggins. During one of the times out the mic caught Cavs coach saying keep defending the paint because the Heat wants to score in the paint. You want the defense to start defending the corners closely, once that happens the Heat can attack the paint and get to the line.

In this Cavs series Herro has taken 1 corner three. He is 1 for 1.
In this Cavs series Bam has is 1 for 5 from the corner.
Highsmith 3 for 3 100%
Robinson has taken 0 shots
Burks 0 for 1

And unfortunately 2-3 of those are last second grenades from Bam. If he’s open give it to him

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[twix2500]

The corner three is very important vs the Cavs because how they defend, especially from the 4 spot who Mobley or Allen has to defend.

Corner Three %
Nikola Jovic 47.5%
Haywood Highsmith 44.6%
Duncan Robinson 43 .4%
Alec Burks 40.7%

Spoiler:

vs the Cavs the Heat are shooting 33% from the corner.

Spoiler:

Bam - 45.5%
Herro - 45.7%

The importance of the corner three is to open up the paint for Herro, Bam and Wiggins. Wiggins and Herro are not primarily in the corner so its irrelavant what their % are. In Bam case he is in the corner often when paired with Ware, but as you can see the team is hesistant to give it to him. Bam is open a lot in the corner almost always but the teammates do not swing it to him and a lot of times when it does swing to him he doesnt take and and dribbles it up for a handoff or swings it back up. However, you want the paint to open up for the bigs, Herro and Wiggins. During one of the times out the mic caught Cavs coach saying keep defending the paint because the Heat wants to score in the paint. You want the defense to start defending the corners closely, once that happens the Heat can attack the paint and get to the line.

Spoiler:

In this Cavs series Herro has taken 1 corner three. He is 1 for 1.
In this Cavs series Bam has is 1 for 5 from the corner.
Highsmith 3 for 3 100%
Robinson has taken 0 shots
Burks 0 for 1

Look at how the defense is played different from the first clip with Ware and Bam on the court to when Jovic is on the court. The paint is clogged with Ware and Bam frontcourt. The Cavs show no trust in the Heat ability to shoot threes. Then When Just adding Jovic, Mobley is pulled out of the paint and now Bam and Herro have space to attack the rim. If the Cavs do crash now the corner trey is extremely open. Bam matching up agianst Allen exploits a mismatch oppose to Ware matching up agianst Allen

[marson]

Quick look at how the Cavs are defending the Heat. They are giving up the corner three that Mobley is defending. Mobley is cheating off his man betting the Heat will not beat them shooting the corner. This is why I called it early that Jovic needed to play and be ready for the open three. And this is why Bam cant hesitate and shoot that corner three with confindence and hit it.

Spoiler:

You can see this is what Spo told the team to look out for. It was open Jovic just needed to hit it. You see Mobley is still cheating off his man. However, the defense had fell apart but someone on the Heat wasnt aware of their surroundings. This is should have been an easy dunk and maybe an and one. Let me know if you see it.

Here is more look at how the Cavs are defending and why they are defending they way they are. The playoffs are about finding mismatches. The Cavs want to keep Mobley and Allen in the paint to defend the rim. As you can see in this screen shot the Cavs are selling out to defend the paint. The Heat are trying to expose Garland which is a smart move. Wiggins is the best postup player on this team. However, passing out of the post when the paint is clogged has been very inconsistent for Wiggins. The Cavs are daring Ware, Bam and Mitchell to hurt them from from three. Sadly the players do not have great confindence in Bam and Ware to take those threes because they are really hesistant to pass it out quickly to them at the three point line

The Heat try to counter the Cavs drop bigs, by trying to force them to move laterally and away from the paint. The Cavs are pressing fullcourt, not because they are trying to get the ball out of Herro hands. Its because the Heat lack ball handlers and the Heat have well designed halfcourt plays which is the Alley Hoop plays for Ware and Bam. The Alley Hoop plays pulls Mobley or Allen out of the paint and forces them to play laterally instead of vertically. Its the reason the Heat went up so fast in the first. However, these plays are very time consuming to run. The Cavs quickly decided to press to force the Heat to use more of the 24 sec shot clock so the Heat can not run their motion sets to free up Bam and Ware for Alleys. Look how well this play is run but it uses up a lot of time.

Nice analysis, twix, we need more breakdowns like this. It's tuff out there. Herro and Wiggins have no driving lanes this series. Unless Bam and Ware start hitting consistently from deep, this could be a sweep.

I'd like to see Spo run some post actions for Bam.

[batterybro42]

I wouldn’t mind seeing the Heat make a run at Kendrick Nunn in the offseason. I feel like you can play him at PG start him and get mircrowave scoring when Mitchell isn’t on the floor. Kinda like Rozier was supposed to do.

[greg4012]

In the playoffs, you always have to earn the respect of being defended out to the 3 pt line. Hopefully that starts for Bam today. Would be great to see Ware knock down a couple too. Would make a massive difference for the offense.